Update: And Then the Ulcers Came Back…

If you are a regular reader, you may have known that I had 5 ulcers in the spring/summer of 2013. I had thought it was lactose intolerance, but it turned out to be ulcers. Once we diagnosed it (I only had one bad symptom and wasn’t in pain at all) I went on Prilosec, watched what I ate, stopped coffee for a while and was pretty much fine.

The backstory: Since I am pre-diabetic, I went on Metformin in 2010 and took it up to month 7 of my pregnancy with S (when I was diagnosed with Gestational Diabetes and had to take insulin daily). Which was probably one of the worst times in my life – they couldn’t get my insulin dose straight and I kept crashing at 2 AM and would wake up shaky. After S was born, I went back on Metformin — which is what hurt my stomach eventually. In the late spring/summer of 2013 I started getting sick and thought it was a lactose intolerance issue. After 3 months, I finally saw a doctor about it. I got sick on press trips and at BlogHer in Chicago. She was actually on the wrong track. After another night of hugging my toilet seat (my ulcer made me vomit uncontrollably), I called her the next day and we scheduled an endoscopy (down my throat, thank god they put you under for it). To my surprise — 5 ulcers and a hiatal hernia! I never had heartburn or anything.
I healed and was pretty careful about my diet and stopped my coffee intake.. for a while. I love coffee and need it to function, so that was pretty hard.

Fast forward two years to present day. I don’t drink cow’s milk or ice cream anymore, it doesn’t agree with my stomach, but I can handle cheeses and yogurt (greek or any kind). So I think it was more of a lactose sensitivity, but if its in a cheese or yogurt form I’m fine. I started drinking almond milk and using it for cooking and in my cereals. I ate greek yogurt, cottege cheese and sour cream and never had an issue. So I do kind of question about the lactose sensitivity. I never started back on soda, but coffee was something I needed. I’d actually get pretty bad headaches without it. It got to the point that I’d carry caffeine pills so I could function if I couldn’t get near coffee. Crazy, right?

I had an ulcer attack on June 4 and it shook me to my core. I can’t go through this again. So.. I immediately spoke to a PA at my GI Doc’s office and she told me how much Prilosec to take a day. I stopped coffee cold turkey (and yes, I had headaches for about a week and a half). I do let myself have a Starbucks refreshers packet once a day (it has caffeine, but didn’t bother me in 2013 and isn’t bothering me now. I saw a GI doc last week and we’re waiting to see if goes away it’s own. I am careful what I eat, example: I love lemons and tomatoes. I have added them back into my diet, in small portions. With Prilosec and staying off coffee, I should be fine. In two weeks I go to the Fancy Food Show and I am so excited to try everything. In moderation, of course (and with Prilosec and my GI doctor’s number in my purse).